Ibmack - your understanding is the same as mine and I can’t explain it. My friend (audio engineer) couldn’t explain it either but did say the processing circuitry in the receiver and subwoofer typically ad 5-10 feet to the actual physical distance of the subwoofer. I know that doesn’t explain why the Auto Setup was adding about `18 feet to mine or why cutting it to about 10 feet noticeably improved the sound of the bass.

One thing I can say is that using Audyssey makes voices, especially male voices sound very hollow and tinny in my first room with no noticeable benefit. In the second room I tried it voices still sounded tinny but less so, however this time the ambient sound field did sound more spacious and lifelike. I copied over the curve to the manual EQ and in the 64, 125 and 250 bands Audyssey was setting the channels to anywhere from -3dB to -9dB which explained to me the tinny male voices.

And yes I’ve followed the FAQ and did everything the great minds here could suggest and still ended up with the same results. So I leave Audyssey off and with the Auto Setup I follow President Regan’s advice “Trust but verify.”

grunt, I will continue to experiment with Audyssey on and off - as I do with everything in my setup to eventually arrive at nirvana. I initially didn't give Audyssey an adequate chance, then became converted, but who knows, maybe I'll cast her off again. For the time being Audyssey has me in her grips - and I am content to be there because I figure something as to compensate for having the world's worst HT configuration (is there a thread for overcoming the worst room by brute force?).